Jamie Notter accidentally started a meme on leadership for association executives which I've enjoyed reading. He didn't tag me but as I was reading people's entries, I realized that while working with executive teams, I've developed a few "themes" that - while grounded in my social media marketing view of the world - are applicable to organizational leadership more broadly. This advice is pertinent to commercial companies, non-profits and associations; it is targeted at CEOs and their direct reports but any leader should find it useful. Here are my three pieces of advice for leaders:
- Lead Towards a Vision Impossible
- Try to Put Yourself Out of Business
- Be the Best of Who You Are.
Lead Towards a Vision Impossible
A fine art of leadership is motivating and inspiring people to go above and beyond - to provide greater quality service, to think more creatively than the competition, to be more productive - in short, to give more of themselves to your cause. This is easier said than done, of course, but it can be accomplished by sharing with them a vision of a future made better as a result of their efforts. Even the most jaded want to make a difference when they believe it's possible. So why an "impossible" vision? The impossible vision is the "we will go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard" (JFK) technique that activates desires so powerful that they motivate people into finding their way clear of all the why-nots that busy people surround themselves with on a daily basis (such as the "we don't' have the resources" why-not that can kill any good idea in a matter of moments.) Of course, the real art of Vision Impossible leadership is motivating people with a solid plan to move closer to the seemingly impossible goal, but the techniques for that are beyond the scope of this post. For more of my thoughts on how to enable Vision Impossible with Mission Achievable and Values Believable, see my white paper on the subject.
Try to Put Yourself Out of Business
Ok not literally, but figuratively, great leaders know that change is inevitable and that it's just a matter of time before "the next big thing" comes along to challenge the success of their current model. So if you're going to face annihilation from a better mousetrap eventually, why not be the one to invent the newfangled thing in the first place? Think of it as a twist on planned obsolescence and the key is the word "planned." If you are your own worst competitive threat, you have a better chance of managing the transition from one business model to the next, or one technology base to the next, or one market to the next. Bill Gates demonstrated this in the mid '90's when Microsoft went from proactively ignoring the Internet to accepting its inevitability through an 'embrace and extend' strategy, to dominating it (briefly) through the release of Internet Explorer.
To successfully compete with yourself takes courage because change always involves discomfort, and you certainly risk accidentally weakening a strong business by moving into the future before your market is really ready to go there with you. But I offer this up as a leadership philosophy more than a specific tactic because if you're looking for opportunities to put yourself out of business you will be thinking like your competition. When you're thinking like your competition, you're naturally out-of-the box and more likely to see opportunities to serve your customers and members before it's too late.
Be the Best of Who You Are
There was a time not so long ago when the image of your organization was supposed to be a finely crafted thing, a precise set of visual and messaging impressions that equated to your 'brand'. Well, brand is as relevant as it ever was, and still results from visual and messaging impressions you leave behind as you go about your business, but thanks to social media and thetruth behind the Cluetrain Manifesto the market now demands that your brand and identity be 'authentic', more genuine and personal.The finely crafted image has become suspect due it's perception of craftiness.
Great leaders welcome this transition to more open communication about their organization and use it as an opportunity not only to tell their story more personally, but to become a better organization. By this I don't mean to change who you are, but to allow the public light to shine on you and your organization and encourage you to rise to your most worthy potential. There is much debate about whether the market demand for authenticity is accompanied by greater forgiveness and tolerance when you make mistakes, and this gives many leaders pause. After all, no one wants to go looking for criticism - especially in public venues. However, there is evidence all the way back to the cyanide Tylenol debacle of 1992 that greater transparency - being up front about the good, the bad and the ugly, apologizing when appropriate - is rewarded. Many organizations are responding to this trend with transparency statements, revitalized values statements and Codes of Ethics as a part of new commitments to social responsibility. Great leaders are not afraid to hold themselves and the organizations they lead to the highest standards; they welcome every opportunity to do so.
With regard to this last point, I will be leading a discussion on May 7, 2009 in Tyson's Corner, VA with The CMO Club about how social media can help CMO's position themselves most credibly in their organizations with their CEO and board. We will be discussing some of the themes around these new concepts of branding and if you're a marketing leader in your organization, please join us.
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Here are the highlights from some other participants in Jamie's accidental meme (all entries here). Feel free to continue the meme in comments or on your own blog if you're inspired.
Jamie Notter
1. Know Yourself
2. Understand Systems
3. Learn Communication
Jeff De Cagna
1. Take Responsibility
2. Be Courageous
3. Embrace Learning
Deirdre Reid
1. Have a spine
2. Have a heart
3. Have open ears and eyes
Maddie Grant
1. Combine big picture thinking with practical knowledge
2. Give ownership of the system to each player
3. Be real
Toni Rae
1. Don't Be Afraid To Lead
2. Set An Awesome Example
3. Smile, laugh, share joy. Why? Because it all rolls downhill
